And the Angel Rode
by Jazpup
Summary: A woman shows up at SAMCRO asking to see Alex with a bullet in her shoulder. She looks like an ordinary woman, but she's anything but. How does Tig handle looking after someone other then himself for the first time in his life? Tig/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Background:** I changed a few things up from what happened in the show for a few reasons. One, I first started coming up with the idea before I knew the ending of season three so I created my own ending and two because I wanted to, and I take creative leeway, to mess with you... MWAHAHAHA… anyways, about those changes:

Jax has a younger sister named Riley. She is Gemma and John's but she barely remembers her dad, so for all intents and purposes she is Clay's daughter. The details will all be explained.

Tara lost the baby when she was kidnapped. But do not fret, Jax gets his beautiful little baby girl later. As soon as he and the guys get out of lock up he knocks her up (sorry couldn't resist the pun).

Tig, Kozik and Piney saved Tara from Salazar before the other guys got back from Ireland. Again the details will be explained when and if the story needs it.

Tig and Kozic's past is different, the mysterious 'she' was not a dog but an actual person. Again all will be explained later.

The stuff with the city counsel getting rid of Charming PD and giving jurisdiction of the town to the county sheriff? Ja, didn't happen. Unser is still in there kicking and screaming, not letting cancer or Hale take him down.

This story is taking place about two and a half years after the end of season three. Abel is about three and a half and little baby Lilyis six months old.

Now that we have all that out of the way we can get to the actual Tig part of story. There are some more changes where Tig's backstory is concerned but they aren't anything big or important to what has happened in the show so I'll let those come out when they do.

Some other things you should note. This will be the only chapter with a AN at the beginning, in all the following chapters the authors note will be at the end and only a Disclaimer and Previous In will be at the top. I decided to do this because personally when I see that one of my favorite stories has been updated the last thing I want to do is read a long AN first, so I just skip ahead to the story, so unless it is urgent and the chapter wont make sense without it, AN's will always be at the end.

And now after this epically long authors note I present _And the Angel Rode:_

**Chapter One**

It was a regular night at Teller-Morrow Automotive, if there is such a thing as normal where SAMCRO was concerned. Happy was sitting on one of the picnic tables outside, smoking a cigarette. He loved all the parties, the booze and the sweet butts, but had needed a break and decided to come out for a smoke.

He was absent-mindedly watching one of the new prospects cleaning out the garage. The guy had only been around a few months and so far had not made the best impression with the guys. But then again, he remembered, Half-Sack was a complete failure his first few months with the club, but look what he did, gave his life trying to protect his VP's kid and Old Lady.

Happy wasn't one to give out compliments lightly but the kid deserved that cut he was buried in. _Would have made a damn good brother one day,_ he thought.

He was zoning out when a dark blue Chevy Avalanche pulled into the parking lot and pulled him out of his reverie. He flicked his cigarette onto the ground and smashed it out with his the toe of his boot before heading back toward the clubhouse. The garage was closed, whatever this fucker wanted it would have to wait till morning.

He was about even with the truck when the driver's door opened and he heard a person leap softly down to the ground. "Sorry, garage's closed. You'll have to come back in the morning." He rasped in his deep low voice, the consequence of a few too many smokes. He didn't even turn around, just kept walking.

He was almost at the clubhouse door when something made him stop and turn around. He had been expecting a response from the ass driving the car and had been determined to ignore it but the soft female voice pulled him up short. It was so quiet he thought he might have imagined it. "Please," it whispered.

It sounded so sad, so…broken. He spun around on his heel and looked at the driver for the first time. Instead of the fat old guy he had been imagining, or maybe a stuck up rich kid, there stood a petite girl, maybe 5'2" at the most. She was wearing dark jeans and a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled up, hiding her face. It zipped up in the front and she was holding it together with her arms crossed in front of her.

Something inside of Happy stirred, he had always trusted his gut, more then once it had saved his and his brother's asses while on runs. He couldn't put his finger on it but he knew something wasn't right. Not that this girl was dangerous, or that she was bringing trouble. But something just wasn't right about her.

Hap hesitated a moment where he stood. He couldn't see her face clearly under the shadow the hood was casting over her face. He hesitantly took a step towards her, trying not to scare her. "Lady, are you ok?" he asked. He had tried to make his voice none threatening but it still came out like a growl and he saw her flinch back slightly.

He saw her mouth move but couldn't make out the words she was saying. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that." He took another hesitant step forward; again not trying to be threatening but this time she took a step back and hit the front bumper of her car.

Happy was clueless now. W_hat the hell was this girl, who was skittish and hiding under a hood with a huge ass car, doing at the SAMCRO clubhouse at eleven at night_?

But while he was musing she seemed to shake herself out of it because the next time she spoke, although still timidly, he could clearly understand her. "Please, I'm looking for Alex. I need to see to him."

_Alex? What the – _"Oh, your looking for Tig?" _Half scared to death and looking for Tig? What the hell?_

"Yes, please. I need to see him, is he here?" her voice was a little stronger this time. Clearly pleased that this man knew who she was looking for. She tilted her head up a bit more.

At the new angle more of her face was illuminated by the light coming from inside the garage and he saw a dark bruise on her jaw. It was recent, probably from less then a few hours ago, but already a horrible blue-green. "Fuck," Happy muttered under his breath at the sight. Then he hollered over his shoulder, "Prospect, go get Tig, now."

The prospect looked up from his job sweeping, noticing for the first time that Happy was still outside, he had assumed the older biker had gone back to the party a while ago. He took in the pick up truck with a women huddling next to it in front of him for the first time. His eyes darted back and forth between the huge biker and the tiny girl trying to figure out what was going on. When he came up blank he called back. "What do I-"

"NOW."

In his hurry to get away from the killers deadly glare the prospect tripped over the broom and nearly did a face plant on the garage floor, before finally making it into the clubhouse.

"Retard," Happy grumbled again.

Before turning back to face the girl he made sure his face was calmer, he could only imagine what would happen if he glared at her the same way he had just glared at the prospect, but he would put money on the fact it wouldn't be pretty. "The prospect is going to get Tig. Can you tell me your name, Sweetie?"

Hap didn't know what was wrong with him, when was the last time he had called someone Sweetie? Or any term of endearment for that matter? Never that he could remember, but for some reason he felt very protective of this girl, wanted her to feel safe.

Apparently there had still been some traces of anger left in his face though because she gasped when he had turned to face her and her face paled a little more, if that was possible.

"E-e-e-Ellie," she finally stammered out.

"Well, Ellie, how about-" he was about to offer her a seat at the picnic table. She looked like she was about to pass out and the longer she stood the more fatigued she was getting, when he was interrupted by Tig's voice coming from inside the clubhouse.

"What do you want Hap? It better be pretty damn good, I had two-" he froze a few feet out the door to take everything in. His eyes darted from the blue Chevy, which he clearly recognized, to the shaking girl in front of Happy, to Happy's outstretched hand and back to the girl.

"Ellie, what are you doing here?" he strode over toward them quickly with his eyes trained on the mysterious girl. His voice a mixture of confusion, anger and… Hap couldn't believe what he was seeing, but it looked like affection. It was a look he had become familiar with in the three years he had been in Charming; it was the way Clay looked at Gemma, Jax at Tara.

Tig was confused as hell,_ Hadn't they decided that they were going to keep their life and his club life separate?_ Ellie had had enough violence in her life; she didn't need to be affiliated with the club right now.

But that didn't stop him from feeling his heart soften a little like it did every time he saw her.

As he approached her he forgot that his brother was right next to them and that the idiot had probably followed him outside, he reached up and cupped her cheek with his large, calloused hand.

When she flinched away he became even more confused. He mentally stepped back and realized that something was wrong.

"Ellie, angel, what's wrong?" He reached up and clasped her face in both of his hands and gently tilted her face up towards his.

When her hood feel back and her face was bathed in the light spilling out of the garage ports both Tig and Happy gasped. The bruise Happy had seen earlier was just the tip of the iceberg. There was a huge black and blue bruise forming on the left side of her face in the clear shape of a handprint. But that wasn't what Hap was worried about the most, the blood slowly dripping down the side of her face by her hairline concerned him much more.

It took a moment for Tig to get over the shock of seeing Ellie like this before he snapped out of it.

"Ellie, what happened?" he asked.

She refused to look at him, keeping her eyes firmly on Tig's feet in front of her.

"Ellie, look at me." He demanded with a little more force then before.

Still Ellie didn't look up, she couldn't stand to see the revulsion she was sure she'd see in his eyes.

Happy saw a single tear run slowly work its way out of her eye and roll down her cheek.

Tig was losing his temper. Someone had beat up Ellie, _his_ Ellie, and now she wouldn't even look at him.

He let go of her face and roughly grabbed her shoulders. "ELANA! LOOK AT ME!"

Tig saw the pain flash across her face at this. A half strangled scream of pain escaped her lips and her right hand came up and grabbed her opposite shoulder. The pain had finally become too much and she began to collapse.

Happy lurched forward to catch her but Tig quickly caught her waist and held her up close to his body.

She was sobbing uncontrollably into Tig's chest now, his arms the only things keeping her from collapsing to the ground in a useless pile.

Something clicked in Happy's mind. She hadn't been crossing her arms, she had been supporting it. Something had seriously fucked up her shoulder.

Tig seemed to realize this at the same time. Slowly Tig pulled backwards until he could see her. Gently he loosened his grip on her waist, making sure she could stand on her own. When he was confident she was stable on her own two feet again he moved his hands up to her crossed arms.

Gently he tried to extract her arms but she kept them firmly crossed. "Ellie, I need to see your shoulder. I promise I won't hurt you angel." Slowly her arms relaxed and she allowed him to support her left arm. He reached up and slowly pushed her sweatshirt back.

_Odd, _he thought, _it was wet_. But before he had time to comprehend why that could be the reason became abundantly clear. The white blouse was stained red with a small rough circle ripped in the shoulder.

It took no time for Tig to figure out what had happened. He been in the corps for five years where he had seen more then his fair share of action, as well as his years with the club, recognizing a gunshot wound had become second nature to him years ago.

He sucked in a quick, shallow breath at the sight. Next to him Happy swore under his breath.

It took only a moment for Tig to fall into Sergeant-at-Arms mode. He could deal with this as long as he kept his head straight.

"Get Tara!" He bellowed back at the clubhouse, thankful that the Doc was at the party tonight. He assumed the prospect had gone to get her because his attention was focused solely on Ellie.

"Angel, we have to get you inside so I can take care of you," he said in the softest, most southing voice he could manage in his present condition. "I'm going to pick you. You just keep your arm steady, ok?"

Shakily she nodded. Her sobs had subsided but tears were still streaming down her face.

Gently he reached down and scoped her up. One arm behind her knees, the other supporting her back.

Since Tig had pulled back Ellie's sweatshirt to reveal the gunshot wound Happy had not been stationary. He had walked around the girl, who he know realized was not as young as he had first thought; she was probably in her late 20's at least. He reached into her truck and turned it off, throughout the whole encounter the thing had been dinging away, reminding the driver that they had left the keys in the ignition.

He closed the door as Tig picked her up and Happy jogged in front of them to open the door to the clubhouse so Tig didn't have to mess with it. Tig was moving as fast as he could without jostling Ellie to much, impatient to get her inside as fast as possible.

Inside Tara was sitting on the counter in the kitchen with Gemma, Riley, and Lyla, talking. She and Jax were taking the night off, one of Tara's friends from the hospital, Rachel, was looking after the kids. She was a pediatrician and was always nagging Tara to let her babysit more often.

Tara was complaining about baby proofing the house now that Lily had crawled for the first time while playing with Jax the other day. "Don't get me wrong, I love the kids, but it feels like we just got rid of all this stuff for Abel and now were unpacking it all again. I don't think I've gotten a good night sleep since Lily was born." Tara complained. All three women just let her rant.

"I've been there, Sweetie," Gemma said, "You've got another eighteen years before you can kick them out and finally have your life and house back again."

"Hey, I resent that," Riley said over her beer.

"Thanks for that, Gemma, just wanted to hear," Tara groaned, letting her head fall back, banging into the cupboard behind her. The other women burst into laughter and soon Tara joined them.

Before they could calm down the new prospect came skidding into the kitchen, slightly out of breath. "Tara," he gasped out, "Tig needs you…outside."

Instantly all four of them sobered up, if Tara was needed it meant someone was hurt, usually seriously, otherwise they went to Chibs. He had enough experience from his days as an army medic to handle most things, and it kept Tara out of trouble if someone found out she was patching up bullet wounds at night.

"What happened? Surely not even _he_ could have gotten into that much trouble. He was just inside with they guys a minute ago." Her relationship with the Sergeant-at-Arms had improved greatly since he, Kozik and Piney had rescued her from Salazar. She shook her head minutely to clear her head of those thoughts; she couldn't be distracted by the past if someone needed medical attention.

"Not him," the prospect, Max, was finally catching his breath. "Some girl."

The girls quickly exchanged a nervous and confused glance. No one knew what in the world could be going on.

"Where are they?" Tara asked, quickly stepping into her ER mode.

"Outside, come on." He turned around made his way towards the door he had just come from with Tara close on his heals.

From where Jax was situated in the clubhouse with Chibs and Juice he saw the new prospect come in and hurry into the kitchen where Tara, his mom, sis and Lyla were talking. He seemed out of breath but whatever he said caught there attention and Tara hopped down lightly from her place on the cupboard and began to follow him back outside followed by the rest of the ladies.

Jax's curiosity got the best of him and he grabbed his beer and made his way to intercept the convoy headed outside. Just as he caught up to them the door burst open and Tig came in holding a women in his arms. She was small and seemed to be using Tig for strength, her head turned into his chest. Over the noise of the party Jax couldn't hear her but he guessed she was crying.

Tara gasped, "Oh my…" Tig came in with a look of absolute anguish on his face. She followed his eyes to the small women he was holding in his arms. The first thing she noticed was the large amount of blood on the girl's shirt and the way she cradled her arm next to her body.

She heard Jax call out behind her. "Party's over! Everyone out!" She tuned out everything except the strange women that the battle hardened SAA obviously cared about deeply. She rushed up to Tig so she could see her more closely.

"We need to find someplace to lay her down." Tara glanced around the clubhouse, looking for a suitable place to examine the girl. Usually injured persons were just put on the kitchen table (Tara had fixed up more then one injury there), but because of the party the table was covered in food and booze.

"My dorm," Tig volunteered and set off towards the stairs.

Tara took off after Tig. When they got up the stairs she ducked in front of him and opened the door to his dorm. She didn't even notice the status of the room (which was much cleaner then anyone could have expected) and quickly pulled the quilt off the bed and threw it on the ground, out of the way.

Gently Tig set the girl down on the bed and stepped back to let Tara get to her patient.

"I need my bag, some towels, a bucket of warm water, a pair of scissors and a bottle of water." Tara called out and Happy, who had followed them upstairs, ran for the towels and warm water and Riley Tara's bag, which she always kept in Jax's dorm in case of an emergency like this, and the bottle of water.

"Tig, apply pressure to her shoulder, try and stop the bleeding." Tara said as she started taking the girls pulse. "Sweetheart, can you tell me your name?" She needed to keep her conscious.

"Ellie," she whispered.

"Ok Ellie, my name is Tara, I'm a doctor. I'm going to patch you up, ok?" Ellie's pulse was strong but uneven, which was only to be expected.

"Make it go away," Ellie groaned.

By now Happy had returned with the scissors, towels and water. The doctor grabbed the scissors, "Everyone out who doesn't have to be here." Slowly everyone but Tig and Chibs got out of the room as she began to cut away the girls cloths until she was left in nothing but a cami.

All present in the room noticed the plethora of bruises that covered the girl's fragile body, the worst being the obvious hand prints on her upper arms.

Tara took a towel and gave it to Tig. He used it to apply pressure in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

"I'm trying Ellie, I promise, it will stop hurting. Chibs clean up her head, we need to find that wound and stop the bleeding. Ellie," she turned her attention back to the bleeding girl on the bed. "I'm going to give you something to get rid of the pain, can you tell me are you allergic to anything?"

"Peni- Peni-" she couldn't get it out.

"Penicillin family" It was Tig who finally answered. Ellie just nodded weakly.

Riley had come back with Tara's bag while the doc was talking to Ellie. Quickly, Tara found a vial of morphine and a clean syringe. "Ellie, can you tell me how much you weigh?"

"One- One ten." She stuttered.

"One hundred and ten pounds?" Tara confirmed.

"Yes."

Tara did the quick math in her head, determining how much morphine she needed before quickly filled the syringe.

But before she could inject Ellie with the pain reliever a hand clasped her wrist. She stared wide eyed at the man in front of her, unbelieving what she was seeing. "Tig," she hissed, "I have to dig a bullet out of her shoulder. I know _you_ know how painful that is. Do you seriously want her to go through that without pain killers?"

Tig looked uncomfortable. Apparently tonight was a night of firsts for the killer.

He glanced down at Ellie, then back up at the doc.

"We don't have time for this Tig." She snapped. She was trying to save this women's life and now Tig was stopping her from working.

"I'm pregnant." It wasn't Tig who answered, it was Ellie. She was staring desperately at Tig, needing confirmation that she had done the right thing by telling Tara and Chibs the truth.

Chibs, who had been quiet throughout this whole confrontation, knowing that the Doc could hold her own against the Sergeant-at-Arms, noticed the immediate change come over Tara when Ellie mentioned her pregnancy. Her hands froze up, her face paled and her eyes glazed over.

He was sure she was remembering her own miscarriage. Ellie's injuries reminded Chibs greatly of those Tara had had when they got home from Ireland. He knew how much losing her and Jax's kid had hit her hard.

"Tara, luv, are you ok?" He knew she wasn't but she needed to snap out of it and take care of Ellie.

But it wasn't Chibs that finally got through to Tara, it was Tig. When he had heard Chibs ask the Doc if she was ok, he looked up from Ellie for the first time. He was shocked at the look on her face. Never in her years of patching up people for the club had she ever froze up. Then he realized she wasn't freaking out over the blood or Ellie's injuries, she was having flash backs.

"Tara, sweetheart," he murmured, lightly grabbing and shaking her arm until she looked at him. "You need to focus. I _need_ you to save her."

The desperation in Tig's voice finally got through to Tara and she focused back on Ellie.

"We need to get her to the hospital. Alone, I could handle it, but not with this." She looked down at Ellie, a mixture of desperation and pain in her eyes. "I _won't_ risk your baby."

Neither Tara nor Chibs saw it, but Ellie did, and the pain in Alex's eyes at the thought of losing their baby was one she would never forget.

**A/N: **Thank you so much for reading! Please review! Constructive criticism is always welcome, but no flames please. I hope to update once a week depending on homework levels and whatever else is going on.

Also, picture's of the characters are, or will be soon, posted on my page, as well as songs that represent to me the characters or the story.

One more thing, if anyone would like to be a Beta, I would love one. Anyone who is interested, just PM or email me.

Love

Rose


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Previously in **_**And the Angel Rode**_**:** A girl with a bullet wound showed up at the clubhouse asking for Tig. Tig knew the girl as Ellie and obviously cared about her very much. Tara was about to give Ellie a dose of morphine so she could take the bullet out of her shoulder when Tig stopped her and Ellie revealed that she was pregnant with Tig's child, but no one else knows it is his.

**Chapter Two**

Tig was sitting in the waiting room of St. Thomas Hospital. Gemma had been with him for the whole time, but had left a minute ago to get some food for the guys who were camped out in the sterile, white room. She had been unusually quiet, just rubbing his arm or patting his back comfortingly. She must have realized he was in no condition to talk.

Ellie had been in surgery for two hours so far. Before Tara had gone to scrub up, she had promised him that as soon as they were done she would come tell him how Ellie was doing.

"She'll be fine Tig." Tara had reassured him. Tig knew that, Ellie was strong, she was a fighter, it would take more then one bullet to bring her down, but it wasn't just Ellie he had to worry about.

The baby, his baby.

Even though she had told him almost a month ago that she was pregnant he still couldn't wrap his head around it.

Yah, he had been a father in the past, but he had never cared about Fawn and Dawn's mother nearly as much as he did Ellie. Fuck, he wasn't sure he had ever even loved her. Looking back he should have realized it would end badly, but he never expected her to take off with his girls and fall off the face of the planet.

After three years being together, he and Maria were always fighting, usually about the club. She couldn't accept that sometimes the club had to come first. But he never expected to come home from a run one day to find the girls' rooms empty and a note on the counter next to her wedding ring saying that she had had enough and wouldn't have her girls growing up amongst the violence. No one had seen any of them since.

Not that he hadn't looked for them. He had spent a year scouring the west coast for them. And not just himself either. All of SAMCRO had helped, as well as every SOA chapter within a four state area.

As well as the club, Unser used his police contacts. Still, nothing.

Clay pulled him out of his memories when he sat down in the plastic chair next to him. For a moment he just sat there, watching his Sergeant-at-Arms slumped in defeat. Clay had only ever seen Tig like this once before, when he realized that his bitch of a wife had up and left with their two daughters in tow.

After a moment he finally broke the silence, "Want to tell me what's going on here Tig? Who is this woman? What's she to you?"

Tig leaned forward, rested his elbows on his legs and buried his face in his hands. "Fuck, I don't know, brother. I guess she's girlfriend, but she's not." He muttered.

"Some ass you're getting?"

"No!" Tig snapped up and glared at Clay, "no, she's…she's…she's so much more." He let his head fall back into his hands.

Clay let him calm down for a moment, considering the situation. "You really care about her, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Care to tell me why I didn't hear 'bout this 'till she shows up at the clubhouse with a bullet in her shoulder? What happened to her anyways?"

"Her motherfucking father is what happened to her." Tig growled out. Before Tara had allowed them to move her out to the van to get her to the hospital she wanted to stop the bleeding. While she worked on her shoulder and Chibs on her head, Tig kept Ellie talking. Tara had told him to keep her conscious for as long as possible, so he quizzed her on what had happened, even though he was sure he already knew what had happened. Or more specifically, who.

Clay raised an eyebrow, but waited for Tig to explain.

The younger man leaned back in the chair and began to explain Ellie's story.

"Ellie's mom died when she was seven, her dad had never really been around, he was a big business man, ran some kind of international business out of their home in Argentina. After her mom's death he became even more reclusive, buried himself in his shit. He needed to get away from Argentina, so he decided to move them to Houston. That's when he hired Lucas." He spat the name in disgust. "He was the son of an old friend and about fifteen years older them Ellie. He had just graduated from the top business school in Argentina."

"Ellie's father buried himself in his work and didn't notice that Lucas was abusing his own damn daughter. At first it was calling her degrading names, making her feel like she was a piece of shit. When she was ten it became physical, he would hitting her, yank out her hair, spit on her, that kind of fucked up shit. But when she turned thirteen he convinced her she had to begin earning her keep. That motherfucker raped her, she was thirteen years old Clay, _thirteen_." His voice rose as he told the story.

Clay put a hand on Tig's shoulder, half in comfort, half restraining him from doing something violent in a hospital. He knew what he was feeling, knew the feeling of having the one you love the most hurt in the worst possible way and not being able to do shit about it.

"She finally got up the strength to run away when she turned eighteen. She left Houston and became an American citizen so she could change her name and Lucas couldn't find her. Apparently that wasn't enough though." The last line came out with a dejected sigh and Tig again buried his face in his hands.

Tig and Clay sat there in silence for a long time. "You have the complete support of the club for whatever you need, brother. Retaliation, protection for Ellie, whatever. I can see why you kept her away from the club, but you've got to understand, she's a part of it now whether you like it or not."

Tig sighed and lifted his head to look at Clay for the first time. "Ja, I knew some shit would happen sometime to drag her into club life eventually."

"Besides, did you really want her around the guys, Tig? Your girl's hot." Tig chuckled softly, knowing Clay was only trying to lighten the mood. Even though he had not once explained his relationship with Ellie, Clay, and probably the rest of the guys, had figured it out on their own.

Just then Tara came in, still wearing her scrubs and looking weary. Tig jumped up quickly, once again thinking about nothing but Ellie and the kid.

Tara wasn't used to the look of worry on Tig's face, he was usually the cool, calm and collected one; he must really care about Ellie.

"She's in recovery, surgery went well; we got the bullet out of her shoulder and stopped the bleeding. She also had some internal bleeding, two broken ribs, a concussion, and a broken wrist as well as many cuts and bruises. It looks like she fell through some glass, we found a lot of small pieces imbedded in her leg. I have to warn you, Tig, she's pretty beaten up. I don't want you freaking out when you see her."

"Will she be ok?"

"She should be. Right now she's in a medically induce coma, it will give her body time to heal its self. She'll be completely out of the woods when she wakes up."

"And the baby?" Tig choked out; there had been no doubt in his mind that Ellie would make it, but what a seven week pregnancy? Clay had come up behind Tig and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"They're fine, Tig." Tara reassured him with a smile. "We'll run some more tests while she's here, but there shouldn't be any permanent damage, to either of them. You've got yourself one strong woman in there."

"Don't I know it." In an unusual sign of compassion Tig wrapped Tara up in a hug. "Thank you." He whispered.

"Your welcome." Tara said, pulling back.

"When can I see her?" Tig questioned.

"As soon as she's out of recovery they'll bring her up to the ICU. I'm going to go change and by then you should be able to see her."

"Thank you again, Tara. I don't know what we'd do without you." It was Clay who answered this time.

"You might have to learn how to stay out of trouble." Tara smirked.

A deep voice chuckled in her ear and Jax's strong arms enveloped her. "Never."

Tara turned her head and stole a quick kiss before she pulled away. "I'm going to go change, then I'll come bring you to see Ellie." She told Tig, before heading to the break room where she had left her cloths.

As Tara walked away, Tig's brothers turned on him. "So brother, how long have you been shacking up with that?" Juice once again showed that he had no filter between his brain and his mouth.

Jax hit him upside the head.

"Ow, what was that for?"

Everyone ignored him, "But really, how long have you been together and how come we haven't heard or seen anything of her before?" Jax asked.

"About two years and we just decided to keep our lives separate, then I wouldn't have to worry about her getting' hurt because if what I do." Tig left out the rest.

Jax and Opie looked at each other knowingly, they both knew what that was like and never wanted a brother to go through that kind of pain again.

"So, bruther, tell us more 'bout the lass." Chibs said.

"She's Argentine, owns the pastry shop on main street, makes one damn good pot roast. She has a dog, Ailin and keeps a horse at a stable a few miles outside of Charming. Speaking of which, I'll need to go get Ailin and bring her to the clubhouse. Ellie would have my balls if I let anything happen to her while she's in the hospital."

"Ailin, what kinda name is that?" Opie asked.

"It's Mapudungun, native language in Argentina. I'll let Ellie tell you that story."

"Well, Juice can go get the dog and bring him to the clubhouse so you don't have to worry bout it." Clay trailed off as Tig shook his head.

"No, Ailin doesn't like strangers and is very protective, she'd attack anyone who tried to enter the house. Then again I do owe the asshole." He said, glaring at Juice. Everyone laughed, remembering the botched attempt to steal a car, where Juice's incompetence had literally bitten Tig in the ass.

When everyone settled down there was an awkward pause until Happy broached the subject they were all avoiding. "What happened to her, Tig?" Happy was naturally very protective, but the fact that this girl had somehow snuck under his defenses before he even knew her unnerved him greatly.

"It's a long story, and hers to tell when she's ready." He glanced over at Clay and took the slight nod to be reassurance that he wouldn't tell anyone what Tig had just told him. "The short version is an old friend of her father's wasn't particularly happy when she decided to she wanted to be an independent woman."

Happy noticed how Tig's voice and eyes hardened as he talked about Ellie's story and figured this was the much shortened and _very_ censured version of the truth.

"What are we going to do?" Tig was surprised to hear Happy say we. He wasn't one to get himself involved in business that didn't concern him. And technically, since Ellie wasn't an Old Lady, revenge didn't.

"I'm going to find that fucker and make him regret ever looking at Ellie." Tig growled out.

"Juice, Opie, Bobby, head back to the clubhouse." Clay ordered. "Juice, do your shit and find this fucker." He nodded at Ope and Bobby, "The garage is opening in a few hours, keep everything under control."

The three of them treaded out of the hospital, leaving Tig, Jax, Happy, Chibs and Clay waiting when Gemma returned with enough food to feed an army.

"Where'd everyone go?" She asked her husband.

"Sent 'em back to the clubhouse. Juice is going to find this fucker and Opie and Bobby are opening up the garage."

Gemma glanced quickly at Tig. "How is she?"

"She's going to be fine. Tara came out when they were done with surgery, said that she won't be completely out of the woods till she wakes up, but there shouldn't be any permanent damage."

"And the baby?" Everyone had heard the truth when they had arrived at the hospital and Tara had rattled of facts about Ellie's condition, including the fact that she was pregnant to the ER doctors and nurses.

"The baby's fine."

"Thank God." Gemma sighed and wrapped her arms around her husband's closest friend.

Tig allowed Gemma's physical contact to comfort him. Most of the stress was off his shoulders now that he knew Ellie and the baby were going to be fine, but he was still worried about his girl.

Tara had changed and went to recovery to see how Ellie was doing, only to discover that she had already been moved into the ICU. When she made her way downstairs to tell Tig the good news, she stopped short by the strange, but heart warming scene in front of her.

Tig, the usually callous and harsh SAA, was standing in the middle of the waiting room, holding on to Gemma as if his life depended on it. Tara just stood there and took in the scene for a moment before walking forward, making her presence known.

"Ellie's been moved to the ICU, she can have visitors now, as long as you keep it to two people in the room."

"We'll come talk more later, you go take care of your girl." Clay turned to Happy, "Watch his back ok? I don't want her alone and I know Tig's gonna need some sleep soon. Not going to give that fucker a chance to come by and finish the job." The last part he said softly, so only Happy could hear. Hap nodded his head.

Clay clapped Tig on the shoulder and Gemma kissed Tig on the cheek before Clay threw his arm over his wife's shoulder and they made their way out to Clay's bike in the parking lot.

Tara looked at Chibs, the only person left that didn't have an express purpose to be left at the hospital, since Jax was her ride home.

"I wanna see the lass, then I'll be takin' the van back to the clubhouse." He replied to Tara's questioning look.

She nodded and headed towards the elevator, with the boys right on her heals.

When they got to Ellie's door, Tara put her hand on the door knob but didn't open it. "Tig, I warned you, she's pretty banged up, she has a lot of bandage's. I don't want to be explaining to Margret why there is a hole the size of your fist in the wall." She stared down the curly haired man.

"Ja, got it. Keep my temper in check." Tara glanced quickly at Jax, hoping that he or Happy would be able to constrain Tig if the sight of Ellie was too much for him.

Tig was worried about his reaction too; part of him didn't want to see his girl if she was anywhere near as bad as Tara was building it up to be. But it was easily trumped by his desire to make sure she was ok, to hold her again and be there when she woke up.

Tara opened the door and Tig rushed to Ellie's side. Her head was wrapped in gauze and she had a bandage on her check. She was hooked up to about 5 different machines and they could all hear her heart rate monitor beeping away in the corner. She also had a breathing tube taped under her nose, providing oxygen to her battered body.

The rest of her body was covered by a blanket, for which he was thankful. Tara's fears might be affirmed if he had to deal with anything else at the moment.

He fell to his knees next to the hospital bed and ever so gently cupped her check in his big, calloused hand. "Ellie, Angel." He sighed.

After a moment Tig looked up. His eyes harder and his face more stoic then Tara had ever seen before. It was probably one of the most deadly looks she had ever seen.

"This fucker is going to pay." He growled out. "I'm going to make him wish he had never been fuckin' born."

"Don't worry about that yet, brother. Juice will find him and you can get your revenge, but till then just stay here with your girl. She needs you right now." Jax comforted, slapping Tig on his shoulder.

Tig looked torn between wanting to get revenge and staying with Ellie, but when he looked back at the fragile body laying in the bed his mind was made up for him. He pulled the recliner up next to the bed and sat down next to Ellie, carefully taking her small hand in his large one, making sure not to disrupt the IV.

"Come on guys," Tara said, motioning with her head for everyone to get out of the room. "Let's give them some privacy."

Chibs, followed by Jax, went up and kissed Ellie on the forehead.

"Get better soon sweetheart. Before you give your old man an aneurism." He murmured. "We need him and he needs you."

Tara, Jax and Chibs left the room, Tara softly closing the door behind them. Happy was still standing vigil in the hallway.

"Make sure he doesn't do something stupid, will ya?" Jax asked.

The only response they got was a curt nod. _Very Happy_. Tara thought, before Jax wrapped his arm around her middle and began pulling her downstairs towards his bike.

Tig heard the door close but didn't move for over an hour till the exhaustion just became too much.

He lay down in the recliner, facing Ellie, but still grasping her cold hand in his. Just as he was losing his fight with exhaustion the sun peaked up over the window sill and feel down around Ellie's face like a halo.

_She really is an angel_. Tig thought. _My angel_. And with that thought, he fell into a restless asleep.

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Please review! Constructive criticism is always welcome, but no flames please. **

**Rose**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Previously on **_**And the Angel Rode**_**: **Ellie is in the hospital, but she and the baby are fine. Tig reminisced about being a father again and we learned his ex-wife kidnapped his daughters when they were three and he hasn't seen them since. Clay had a sit down with Tig and he told him that Ellie ran away from home when she was eighteen because her father's friend was raping her.

**Chapter Three**

_It was a warm fall night in Charming, California. Ellie had completely settled into her life here, finally deciding to put down roots somewhere and stop flitting around the country like she had been doing for the last five years. _

_ At the beginning, the thought of finding a place to call home scared her, she hadn't stayed anywhere more then eighteen months since she graduated college from Penn State with a degree in small business management. She hadn't allowed herself to connect with anyone in case she had to leave at a moments notice. _

_But as her thirtieth birthday approached, she decided that she couldn't be a nomad her entire life. So she packed up her small apartment in Minneapolis, Minnesota and moved west. She didn't like the show much anyways, and picked a small town far from Houston that could use a pastry shop and moved in. _

_That was over a year ago, now _Bailey's Bits_ was doing booming business and for the first time since her mom died, she felt at home. _

_At the moment she was transforming _Bailey's Bits_ from summer to fall and Halloween themed. She had all the summer decorations boxed up and was bring the fall ones in from her old Honda._

Who knew plastic pumpkins and fake leaves could be so heavy_. She thought._

_She grabbed the second one out of the trunk of her car that was parked on the street outside of the shop and began lugging it inside. Brett, her manager, was supposed to help her out, but had come down with a bad case of the stomach flew a few days ago so she was on her own for the evening._

_As she was maneuvering the box in her arms she forgot to watch out for the curb. She felt herself falling, but before she could brace herself for the crash, she landed on the pavement, her hand squished under the weight of her body, as well as the decorations. _

"_Fuck," she moaned, rolling over and extracting her arm from under the box._

_She was cradling her wrist up to her chest when she heard a motorcycle roar up to the curb in front of her. She was unsurprised to see a man in a leather cut getting off when she looked up. _

_The local motorcycle club was not something she had expected when she moved to Charming and, at first, she had been nervous, hearing some of the stories that her customers told her. But all of her experiences with the men in cuts who stopped by to pick up a cup of coffee or a doughnut had been pleasant. _

_They were courteous gentlemen who always tipped well. She had a nagging suspicion that half the stories she had heard were false. Just exaggerations and rumors spread by people who were scared of what they couldn't understand._

"_You ok, sweetheart? That was a pretty nasty fall." The curly haired man asked her, taking off his helmet. _

"_Yah, I'm fine. My wrist will be sore for a while, that's all." Slowly she stood up, keeping her hand protected._

"_Here, le' me see." He reached out for her arm, but she took a step back, shaking her head._

"_No seriously, it's fine. Thank you for your concern, but it'll be fine." She rotated her wrist and flinched, maybe it was more serious then she thought._

"_Give me." It was a suggestion this time. He reached out and grabbed her arm and pulled her hand towards him. "What's in those damn boxes anyways?" He said, prodding her wrist._

_She winced, but spoke through it; she could handle a little pain. "It's the fall decorations. I'm supposed to be decorating the shop for fall tonight." She jerked her head towards the business behind her._

"_You work at _Bailey' Bits_?" the man asked, not looking up from his work on her hand._

"_Own it." She said curtly, she'd never admit it but her wrist hurt like hell._

"_Well, you won't be doing any more work in there tonight. I don't think you broke it but probably a bad sprain." He told her, letting go of her hand._

"_Well, what am I supposed to do then? I can hardly just leave these sitting here, and I have more things to move out to the car." She snapped, crossing her arms and staring up at the biker. She was used to being on her own and didn't like other people telling her what to do._

_He stared back at her, not used to being questioned, especially by a bitch. After a moment he decided to let it go and reached down and picked up the box with ease. "Where do you want these?" He smirked._

"_Showoff," she muttered under her breath, but turned around and lead the way into to the shop. _

_Ten minutes later, all the fall boxes were in the back of the shop and the summer ones were in the trunk of her trunk, she would have to actually put the decorations up later. "Well thank you for the help, if you ever want something, it's on the house." She said, opening up the door to her car._

_Abruptly his hand stopped the cars door from opening. She gave him a look of incredulity._

"_You didn't really expect me to let you drive this _thing_ home, did you?" He looked down in disgust at her beat up old car. "How exactly are you supposed to shift if you only have on good arm?" He glared down at her._

_For a moment he reminded her of Lucas, but she shook those thoughts away quickly. This man, whom she'd learned name was Tig, had done nothing but help her this evening. She looked at her old, beat up, sedan, and sighed, realizing the truth behind his statement._

"_Fine," she sighed, closing and locking her car. She began to walk away when an arm wrapped around her middle and pulled her back._

"_Exactly where do you think your going?" His voice growled in her ear. His chest was pressed firmly against her back and she could feel every inch of his toned body against hers. As his lips grazed across the shell of her ear she shivered. The feeling that erupted in the pit of her stomach was stronger then anything she had ever felt before._

_Sure she had had sex before, but none of her former partners had oozed sex like Tig did._

"_I'm walking home," She said, trying and failing to pull out of his arms. "I only live a few blocks away."_

"_Like hell you are." He growled, spinning her around and grabbing her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. She saw that his eyes were blazing and his pupils dilated, but she had no idea why._

"_We'll how exactly am I supposed to get home then, if I can't drive and now I can't walk either? What am I supposed to do? Sleep at the shop?" She snapped._

_He smirked before he let go off her shoulders and walked over to where his bike still stood on the shoulder of the road. He unhooked his helmet from where it had been hanging on his handle bars and held it out to her. "I'll take you home." He stated simply._

"_What?" She was shocked. Never once during the evening did she expect to end it on the back of this man's bike. _

_Tig just stood there smiling, very pleased with himself for rendering her speechless for the first time that night. "The bike, doll. I'll take ya home." His tone was condescending._

"_I got that." She snapped, irritated at his smug attitude. "Just, why would you do that for me?" He had already spent half the evening helping her move decorations. Why would he want to bring her home, not unless he wanted something there…_

_He watched the emotion flitter across her face as she considered the fact that he might want a sexual favor for his help. He wouldn't deny that, if given the chance, he would totally fuck her, but he hadn't stopped and helped her with the expectation of sex._

"_Nothin' like that, darlin', just wanna get ya home safe. Charming ain't the safest place after dark." He reassured her._

_She looked suspiciously at his bike, then at the out stretched helmet, at Tig and then back to bike, before heaving a sigh. She hadn't particularly wanted to walk home in the dark anyways._

"_You sure you know how to ride this thing?" she asked, buckling on the helmet. She had always had a slight fear of motorcycles and wasn't completely comfortable with what was about to happen here._

"_Believe me, darlin', bikes ain't the only things I can ride." He teased, a sparkle in his eye. He had been making innuendos all night, enjoying the faint blush that appeared on her checks every time he did._

"_Let's just get this over with," she muttered, climbing on behind the biker. This whole situation was completely outside her comfort zone, and it was exciting. _

"_Where da ya live, doll?" he asked, clearly enjoying her discomfort. She gave him her address. For a moment he was upset, that was more then a few blocks away, as she had said earlier. But he quickly got over that when he felt her settle in behind him._

"_Better hold on tight, Ellie. I'm gonna take you on the ride of your life." With that the engine roared to life, Ellie grasped her arms tightly around Tig's middle and they surged forward. _

_It only took a few minutes to get home, the whole time Ellie's head had been buried in Tig's back, hiding her face from the wind and the nauseating sight of the road flashing by on either side of her, a very short few feet below her._

_Her home was a small, Spanish style, stucco house, cozy, but not claustrophobic. When the motorcycle pulled up in front Ellie quickly dismounted, wanting to get as far away from the damn death machine as possible. She took the helmet off and handed it back to Tig._

"_Thanks for the help and the ride. But I think next time you can ride while I walk." She swayed, slightly light headed, as Tig put his helmet back on._

_He chuckled, watching her. "Does that mean I get ta see ya 'gain?" his tone implying much more then a lunch at her shop._

_Over her dizzy spout, Ellie blushed and began the walk to her front door, waving over her shoulder. _

"_Wait, Ellie!" She stopped and looked over her shoulder at the man still straddling the bike. "You need anything, you know where to find me?" He said seriously._

_She just smiled. Everyone in town knew where to find a Son, it was hardly a secret. "Goodnight Tig."_

_She heard the motorcycles engine growl and before the he took off he called. "Lock your doors," before roaring off down the street._

_Ellie just smiled as she unlocked her door and was greeted by Ailin, who was clearly upset at being left alone all night. She closed the door and made sure to lock it before throwing her purse on the table and making her way up to her bedroom. "It's been a very strange night, Ailin." She said, scratching the Australian Shepard behind her ears. _

_As she crawled into bed, Ailin jumped up and curled up next to her, clearly forgiving her master for ignoring her._

_She fell asleep thinking of the mysterious Tig, and for the first night in over twenty years, she slept soundly._

The beeping was the first thing she heard and it was incredibly annoying.

The louder and more frequent the beeping got the more Ellie began to notice other things, the bumpy bed she laid on, the warm blanket she was curled up under, her painful ribs, and the itchy spot on her face.

Still half asleep she reached up to get whatever was irritating her face off.

She heard a familiar chuckle and a soft, but firm hand grasped her wrist and pulled it away from her face. "Sorry, Angel, I know it's annoying, but ya can't mess with that."

Responding to the comforting voice, Ellie slowly turned her head towards him and slowly opened her eyes.

"Ugh." She groaned. When she had opened her eyes to the light that filled the hospital room, she snapped them closed again, the light giving her a horrible headache.

Alex frowned, conscious of Ellie's pain. He intertwined their fingers and cupped her cheek in his other hand, looking into her face, waiting for her eyes to open again.

When she opened her eyes again, she was unsurprised to see Alex's face just a few inches from hers, his chin resting on the bed next to her. She smiled slightly, "Hey," she mouthed, her throat not ready to talk yet.

"Hey, Angel." He whispered and quickly pecked her on the lips. When he pulled away, he smiled. "It's good to see your eyes open again. Ya had me worried. Ya know I don't like to be worried."

She gently squeezed Alex's hand with her own and closed her eyes closed for a moment, but opened to gaze into the icy blue eyes she loved. "How-" her voice cracked, sore from lack of use. She cleared her throat and began again. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Almost two days," he murmured, "took ya longer to wake up then the Doc thought."

Ellie had tried to push herself up, but had gasped in pain as she moved.

"Whoa, where da ya think your goin', Ellie." He put his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her back into the bed. She relented and sank back into the pillows with a pained sigh. She put her hand on her side where the worst pain had come from.

That's when she noticed the IV sticking in her hand and the bandage around her ribs. Slowly she inspected her body, finding bandages all over her body. She realized that the itchy spot on her face was really the spot where the oxygen line was connected under her nose.

"What- What's wrong with me?" she simpered.

"Nothing's wrong with you, Ellie. You are just little disrepair." Alex knew his girl had had self confidence problems in the past. He didn't want her to fall back into that again.

"Alex," she groaned.

He sighed, "You had a bullet in your shoulder, a collapsed lung, broken wrist, two broken ribs, a concussion and some internal bleeding. I think that was it, it was a pretty damn long list."

She closed her eyes and collapsed back into the bad, completely defeated. Then she asked the question she was most anxious and nervous to know the answer to. "And my baby?" she whispered, softly laying a hand on her stomach.

He put his hand on top of her, resting against her belly. "_Our_ baby's fine." He reassured.

She let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Alex saw a single tear escape the corner of her eye. He caught it with the pad of his thumb, wiping it away. "You're going to be fine, Angel. I'm going to protect you. He's never going to touch you again." The end came out in a growl.

Ellie was getting tired, and the longer she was awake the more painful everything was getting. But she still reached up and cupped Alex's cheek. The hard edge in his eyes faded with the physical contact. "I know you will, Love. You've never failed me before; you're not going to start now."

"Hell no." He smirked. They just sat there for a moment, savoring the moment together before her headache became too much and she had to close her eyes to try and block out the pain.

"You need to sleep, Angel. Let me get the nurse to sedate you." He kissed her quickly on the forehead before sticking his head out of the room to get one of the nurses outside.

None of his brothers were out there on guard duty. Happy and Chibs had been taking rotations, but Tig had convinced them that he could handle a few hours on his own. He hated being babysat and the only reason that he put up with is was because he knew he owed Clay.

The nurse came hustling in. She was a kind looking, elderly woman. All the guys who had been in and out to see Tig had liked her because she didn't treat them differently because of the cuts they wore.

"Hey sweetie," She said in a soft, gentle voice. "I hear you're still not feeling very well today." She was looking at the monitor where all of Ellie's data was displayed.

"Not yet." She squeezed Alex's hand again.

"I just have a few questions, then you can go back to sleep, alright honey?" She smiled down at the bed ridden women.

After a quick analysis of what hurt and how much, if she felt nauseous, and how much she remembered from the day of her attack, the questioning was finally over.

"Here you go, sweetie. Sleep tight." The nurse injected a syringe into her IV and the narcotics began to work almost immediately, ebbing away at Ellie's concentration. As the nurse left the room Ellie whispered, "Alex?"

"Yes, Angel?" He said.

"You'll be here when I wake up, right?" She yawned.

"Of course, Ellie. I'm not going anywhere." He reassured her, kissing her forehead, letting his lips linger there for a moment before pulling back on looking her in the eyes.

"Lay with me." She barely got it out, but Alex heard her loud and clear.

Carefully, Alex slid off his boots and crawled into bed beside his love, careful not to disrupt any of the tubes or wires. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she slowly nestled her head into the crook of his neck.

"Just sleep, Angel. I'm right here, nothin' is gonna hurt you." He kissed the top of her head.

She was asleep before she could respond.

**A/N: Wow, that took longer then expected, the flashback was just supposed to be a little exert, not take up the whole chapter! Oh well, just have to get the rest of what was supposed to be in this chapter into the next.**

**Sorry this chapter is late, I came down with a cold on Monday and I still have a crap load of commitment's for school. I crashed when I got home at 9 last night.**

**One more thing I'd like to say, I know Tig seems very different from the Tig we all know and love, but we will see the slow transformation from battle-hardened Tig to doting Alex in the flashbacks. It wasn't that he just meet Ellie and woke up the next day a new person. So it's not as drastic as it seems. **

**Thanks again for all the reviews I've gotten, I hope I've replied to all of them, but FanFiction has been acting weird lately and I haven't been getting emails, but I love them all. As always please review, constructive criticism is always appreciated, but flames are not. **

**As always,**

**Rose**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Previously on **_**And the Angel Rode**_**: **We learned about how Ellie and Tig meet, and that Charming was the first place Ellie settled down many years graduating college. Ellie woke up and she and Tig spent some time talking before she was sedated again.

**Chapter Four**

_God, it was good to see Ellie's eye's open again. _Tig thought, looking down at the sweet girl in his arms. His thumb gently stroked Ellie's cheek continuously as he reached for the remote to the TV in her hospital room. For hours he sat mindlessly watching the TV and playing with Ellie's hair, caressing her cheek or tinkering with her necklace.

He had given her the pendant, two angle's wings crossed, when he had finally admitted to himself that Ellie meant more to him then just a good fuck he just couldn't get out of his system. And looking back, he realized what a stubborn ass he had been, it had taken him forever to get over his damn pride.

The necklace was their version of the crow tat. For years he had seen men show their affecting by inking their women, and even though Ellie wasn't a part of club life, he needed a way to mark her as his, even if was only to the two of them.

It was during the middle of a NCIS rerun that someone knocked on the door and Chibs opened the door and came in.

"Sure," Tig teased, "come on in. There was no chance we were having at it, or anything."

"Well your own damn fault if you were. Hospitals aren't exactly known for their privacy." He smirked; it wasn't like they all hadn't walked in on Tig in various stages of undress and fuckin' before. "How's the lass doing? Woken up yet?" He asked gazing at the girl curled up into Tig's side.

"Yah, for bout ten minutes, a few hours ago." Tig confirmed, lightly tightening his arm around Ellie.

"She's really got ya wrapped 'round her lil' finger, don't she?" Chibs teased.

Tig knew he was going to have to deal with this for a while. He was going to be the butt of jokes, the hard-hitting and dangerous Sergeant-at-Arms with a hidden life and pregnant girlfriend on the side. Chibs was going to be just the tip of the iceberg.

That didn't stop him from glaring at the Scot in front of him. "Just cuz I've got a girl doesn't mean it'll stop me from beating your ass."

Chibs couldn't help it, he burst out laughing, his boisterous laughter filling the area, and earning him an angry stare from the nurse at the desk and some humps and disgruntled muttering from a few people visiting other patients. Chibs could never understand why people thought they had to talk in whispers to someone who was sick, like one loud noise and they would croak.

These people were sick, a little loud music, some good liquor and a round of laughter was going to cheer them up a hell of a lot more then damn flowers, that were just going to die in front of them anyways, and people tiptoeing around them were.

He turned his attention back to the couple in front of him. "So, yer gonna be a father 'gain, are ya?" Chibs had never meet Maria, Fawn or Dawn, but he had heard many stories about them. Hilarious stories about two little toddlers with Tig's curly hair and ice blue eyes tottering around the clubhouse and getting into trouble in ways only Trager offspring could, along with the horrible way in which they had disappeared.

Chibs knew what it was like not to be with you kid. Everyday he thought about missing out on Kerrianne's life. But he knew her life and family was in Ireland and there was no way he was forcing her uproot her life for him, so he lived with phone calls and occasional cards with pictures tucked in with them.

Tig sucked in a big breath and let it out slowly. "Yah, guess so. We never thought 'bout havin' kids, ya know? Neither of had the greatest parents. Take that back, Ellie's mom was good, the best if ya ask her, but she died young. Left her with her asshole of a father who didn't give a fly fuck 'bout his daughter. Fuck, Chibs, I don't want to end up like that, I don't want Ellie ta have ta do this all by herself, but I have no damn clue how to be a father. Shit, mine shipped me off to the Corps the minute I graduated. I already lost two kids cuz I had no idea how to be a dad, I can't lose another one."

Chibs let Tig get it out, he wasn't one to talk 'bout his problems, and when he did it was best to just listen. "Brother, ya just got ta love 'em. I don' know much 'bout Ellie here, but if she's put up with yer crazy ass for two years already I don' think she's going anywhere. You be there for her and the kid and she'll take care of the rest."

Tig listen to his Brother, he wasn't one to ask for advice, but he didn't want to fuck up again and was willing to push aside his pride for a moment, for Ellie and the baby's sake, as much as his own. Before he could voice his thanks for the advice Ellie stirred in his arms.

She had been stirred awake by voices and the vibrations from her pillow, Alex's chest. She yawned and stretched her arms out in front of her without thinking.

"Ouch," she yelped, as her stretch pulled on her broken ribs.

She felt Alex shift next to her, "You ok, Angel?" he asked, worried.

"Yah, fine. Just have to remember not to stretch, that's all." She replied. "What time is it, Alex?" She buried her head into the crook of Alex's neck again, she hadn't opened her eyes yet and Chibs presence in the room had gone unnoticed.

"Bout five. You've only been asleep for a few hours."

"That's good, I need to call the shop, make sure Brett has everything under control." She murmured, still half asleep.

Both Tig and Chibs laughed at this. That caught Ellie's attention and she opened her eyes to see who else was in the room.

"Only you could be holed up in a hospital and be worried about that damn shop of yours." Tig chuckled.

Ellie ignored his comments. "I'm sorry," she was talking to Chibs. "I didn't know Tig had a visitor. Weren't you going to introduce us, Tig? I thought I had taught you _some_ manners." She had changed to calling him the name she knew he went by with the club when she realized they had company. He had told her once that she was the only one, besides the occasional very pissed off Gemma, who ever called him Alex anymore.

This made Chibs burst out laughing again. "Darlin', ya'll never be able to teach that boy manners. Gemma's been working on him for years and hasn't got anywhere. Old dog, new tricks an' all that. I'm Chibs." He walked forward and held out his hand.

"Ellie," she said taking his hand, "but I'm sure you already knew that." He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles.

Just like with Tig the first time they had meet, her blush seemed to amuse him. _Maybe it's just a biker thing._ She thought.

"Sure did Darlin', you've been the talk of the town lately. The woman who captured Tig Trager's heart. Didn't think he had a heart till Saturday."

Tig raised himself onto his side and aimed a kick over Ellie at Chibs' groin. But Chibs' years as a boxer paid off and he easily jumped out of Tig's reach, chuckling hardily.

Ellie turned her head towards the man next to her and slapped his chest softly. "Behave," she admonished.

At this Chibs couldn't contain his laughter anymore. He burst out laughing, doubled over and had to brace himself on the back of a chair for support. "Oh, just gets better by the minute. I can't wait till Jax sees this, yer gonna pay for all those years you've been teasin' 'im 'bout being whipped by Tara."

Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear, "What about me having Jax whipped?" Tara walked in. "Hey Chibs." She turned and saw that Ellie was awake. "It's good to finally see you awake, Ellie. Tig's been driving all the nurses and doctor's around her crazy worrying about you."

Tig growled at her from his place on the bed. _What was it? Pick on Trager day?_

Ellie felt this and grinned, "Well are you going to introduce us or are we gonna have to do this ourselves again?" She teased.

_Even Ellie took their side. _"Ellie, this is Tara. Tara, Ellie. She and the jackass over there," he scoffed, looking over at Chibs who seemed to have finally gotten ahold of himself, "patched you up at the clubhouse before we brought you over here."

"I think I remember." Ellie furrowed her brow, trying to remember anything about what happened at the SAMCRO club house. She couldn't remember much.

"That's ok," Tara said. "It's normal for trauma patients to have amnesia of the events that happen just prior to the shock, or in your case, just afterwards. Tig, out." She shooed the Sergeant-at-Arms out of the hospital bed so she could examine Ellie properly.

He grumbled, but gave Ellie a quick kiss before gently swinging himself off the bed and putting his riding boots back on.

"I'm gonna call the guys, tell 'em Ellie's 'wake. They gotta see this." Chibs laughed, walking out of the room.

"He's just asking for a beat down." Tig grumbled, watching Chibs' retreating back.

As Tara examined Ellie, prodding and poking at Ellie's ribs, pealing back her bandages to check for infections, the two girls talked.

"So how did you end up as the clubs doctor?" Ellie asked.

"How much has Tig told you about the club?" Tara and Jax's story was so long and crazy it would take a novel to explain it to someone who didn't understand the club.

"A little, mostly silly stories and stuff. Little 'bout all guys, and Gemma of course." She grinned, the stories with Gemma were always the best, she really want to meet the woman who had a whole club of big burly bad-ass bikers under her thumb and at her every beck and call.

"Well, I grew up around the club; Jax was my high school sweetheart. I left for eleven years to go to college and came back a few years ago. Now I'm Jax's Old Lady, again. That's the very shortened version of everything." Tara explained.

"And Jax is…the Vice President, right?" Ellie confirmed.

"Yep. And Gemma's son and Clay's step-son. I will warn you, Gemma is very protective of her boys, all of them." She nodded at Tig, who was sulking, but listening to the girl's conversation from the corner, so Ellie knew that Gemma's sons were not all biological. "She won't be the most welcoming, but she'll warm up to you once she's decided you're good enough for Tigger and that your strong enough you to survive in this world." She warned.

"I take it you know from experience?" Ellie questioned.

Tig chuckled, but Tara ignored him. "Oh yes, we were on good terms when Jax and I were in high school, she was like a second mother to me after mine died when I was nine, but that didn't stop her from hating my guts when I left."

"What happened, I mean how… does she like you now?"

"Yah, I think she's forgiven me for everything. It just took time, I proved to her that I was good for Jax and I could handle the club and everything that comes with it, which was something I couldn't do before. Carrying her grandbaby didn't hurt either." Everyone in the room laughed.

Returning to the conversation they had been having Ellie asked, "So, do you regret leaving?"

"No, I don't. It's what we both needed. I knew that if I stayed I would end up resenting the club, resenting myself, and resenting Jax. I needed to do more with my life then be forever known as 'Jax Teller's Old Lady.' And I think it was good for Jax, too. These boys don't know what they've got till it's gone after all."

"Jesus, did I miss the damn announcement? Is it pick on Trager day or some shit?" Tig groaned.

"Oh, Tig. You know we love you." Tara teased.

Tig flipped her off just as Chibs walked back into the room. "Now, now is that any way to act toward the Doc, in a hospital non the less, Tigger." The only response he got was a middle finger for himself, too.

"Were going to have to keep these two separate, they are turning into quite the pair. Gonna cause me and Jax a fair share of shit, in my opinion." Tig complained. Both women glared over at him, but he just smirked back, unapologetic.

"Well, the guys are on their way over. They want to meet this here crazy woman. Ya think ya can stay awake long enough for that darlin'?" Chibs drawled.

"Yah, I think I can manage that." Ellie smiled, she was both nervous and excited about meeting Tig's family. She may have been Alex's family, but the club was Tig's, and she hoped that would make them her family too one day. Somehow she was going to have to mesh her Alex with the Tig the rest of the world saw.

Tig was thinking along the same lines. Now that the club knew about Ellie she was going to be part of club life, as Clay said, whether he liked it or not. That meant he was going to have to merge Tig and Alex. Find a way to be the severe and dangerous Sergeant-at-Arms that the club needed to operate, but also the gentle and attentive boyfriend that Ellie needed, and some day soon he was going to have to add doting father to that list.

Tara interrupted both of their musings. "Well, everything seems to be healing correctly. We're going to keep you on the antibiotics, as well as the pain medication. But if everything goes properly, you should be able to be out of here in three or four days. I think I am going to order another MRI though, to check on your concussion and make sure you don't have any more internal bleeding, and another ultra sound to check on the baby. But that can wait until after the guys have left. I won't deny them the chance to meet you."

For the first time she allowed apprehension to show on her face. _Maybe this wasn't a good idea._ She thought.

"They are going to love you, Angel. You have nothing to worry 'bout." Tig squeezed her hand.

"Definitely." Tara nodded. "They may look and act like a bunch of thugs, but inside they all have huge hearts."

Chibs chuckled and Tig raised an eyebrow at the Doc.

"Well, maybe not Happy. He still unnerves me." She shuttered.

"Yah, well, he hasn't tried to take yer head off yet, so my guess is he likes ya, darlin'" Chibs said.

"I take it he didn't get his name from his cheerful demeanor?" Ellie smiled.

"Nope," Tig popped the 'p'. "I'll tell ya that story another time."

"Well, I have some more patients I need to check on. I'll be back later. It was nice to meet you, Ellie. If you ever need to talk with someone who knows what it's like to come in as an outsider, you just have to ask." Tara smiled, moving towards the door.

"It was nice to meet you too, Tara. And I'm sure I'll have to take you up on that offer, probably multiple times." Ellie laughed, making light of the serious situation.

Tara smiled and waved as she left the room.

"Well, I'll leave ya two lovebirds alone for a few minutes. Don't do anything I wouldn't do, Tigger."

"That's not saying much, Chibs!" Tig called as the Scotsman closed the door behind him.

Alex and Ellie just sat together for a few minutes. Alex had moved back next to her and was sitting on the edge of the bed. He could see the wheels spinning in her head, and after a minute of silence he had to ask. "Wha' cha thinkin' 'bout, Angel?"

"I know everybody's said not to worry, but what if they don't like me? What if they don't think I'm good enough for you?" Ellie voiced her fears aloud for the first time.

"Ellie, you're like a magnet, everybody likes ya. I'm sure more then a few of them are going to think I'm not good enough for you, not the other way around." Alex reassured, brushing a strand of hair out face and behind her ear. "Besides, I'll put a bullet 'tween the eyes of anyone who upsets ya. Brother or not."

"Don't joke about things like that, Alex," Ellie groaned, closing her eyes and letting her head loll back onto the pillows.

"I'm not." Alex said, completely serious.

"I know, that's what worries me."

Alex just smiled at her indignant tone. He would never apologize for protecting her.

"Come on, doll. Stop your worryin'. You're going to mess up your pretty little face. Then what would I do?" Alex teased. He leaned forward and began nudging her neck with his face.

She knew he was trying to distract her, but as she felt his wet kisses smothering her neck she couldn't seem to care. Slowly, teasingly, he worked his way down her neck licking, kissing and nipping his way towards her collar bone.

"Umm, Alex. Don't stop." She moaned.

That was the only consent he needed. He climbed onto the bed and hovered above Ellie, his lips never leaving her skin. He could the heart monitor speeding up, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

She loved the feeling of him above her, the weight of his body on hers. Even though he would never put his full weight on her, just his presence on top of her made her feel safe. She momentarily forgot they were in a hospital and that she was supposed to be resting.

She grated her hips up against Alex's hips and she felt his erection stir to life. He brought his lips up her ear. "You're a naughty little girl, aren't ya?" he whispered seductively.

The heart monitor kicked it up another notch. She always loved it when he talked dirty to her. "Hummm. And what if I am, what are you going to do about it, huh, big guy?" she goaded.

He took her lips with his possessively and thrust his tongue into her mouth. She moaned lustfully and the heated kiss continued. She tried again to create friction between her legs by grinding them against his groin, but his hips were pinning hers to the bed.

All of a sudden he pulled away and looked down at her. She pouted, but he just laughed. "Nope, that's all you're gettin' for today, little one. Naughty little ones need to be punished after all." He smirked down at her as she glared back up at him. "Besides, as much I want my brothers to see just who you belong to, I didn't think that's the first impression you wanted to give them."

When Alex brought up his brothers she heard it, the sound of a rowdy crowd walking down the halls of the usually quiet and orderly hospital.

"Ready to meet the family, Angel?" Alex asked, tilting the bed so that it was easier for her to sit upright, then settling in next to her again.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed. "As ready as I'll ever be."

**AN: Well that was fun, I liked playing around with Chibs for a while, he's so fun to write. **

**One thing, I don't know when the military started requiring recruits to be high school graduates, so I erred on the side of caution and made Tig graduate before his father signed him up for the Marines.**

**As always, thanks for all the reviews and please review if you liked the chapter, or if you hated it. As always constructive criticism is the best, but anything but flames is loved.**

**Rose**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Previously on **_**And the Angel Rode**_**:** Chibs stopped by for a visit and Tig asked for advice on how to be a father and not fuck it up this time, and Chibs empathized about not being able to see your kid. Ellie woke up and Chibs teased Tig about being whipped. Ellie and Tara talked about Tara's past and how she came to be the clubs doctor. Tig and Ellie had to stop a steamy make out session because they could hear the guys coming down the hall to meet Ellie.

**Note:** This is a repost. I had forgotten to go in and write who had walked Tara down the isle when I posted for the first time. Nothing else has changed. Sorry for the confusion.

**Chapter Five**

Clay was the first through the door, he took in Ellie's flushed face, the rapid beating of her heart monitor and the bulge in Tig's pants. "Hope we didn't interrupt anything." He smirked.

As the rest of the guys filed in laughing, Ellie buried her head in Tig shoulder, wishing she could just disappear. This was going to be absolutely mortifying.

Tig chuckled at her decency. He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and murmured into her hair, "Better get used to it, doll. You're gonna hear a hell of a lot of it." At this she groaned.

"Don't let 'em get to ya, darlin'" Chibs chided, "Were just teasing a bruther."

Tig nudged her up, and finally she looked at the seven men squeezed into her tiny hospital room. She scooted closer to Alex, the presence of so many men in in the room made her uneasy.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gently squeezed her, showing his support before he started on names. "Ellie, this is Opie, Jax, the retard over there is Juice," the man Tig pointed to with a Mohawk and lightening bolt tattoos scowled, "that's Bobby, Clay and Happy." Everyone said some version of hello as their name was mentioned, except the heavily tattooed bald man named Happy, he just nodded.

Ellie vaguely remembered him as the man who she had first talked to at Teller-Morrow Automotive. He was just staring at her and she looked away uncomfortably, when she glanced up a moment later she was unnerved to see he was still staring unfazed at her, his face an impassive mask.

"Where's Gemma and Riley? Thought they'd come with you." Tig looked around, as if he might have missed them.

"Gemma was out doing some errands when Chibs called, said she'd stop by on her way home. Riley and Piney are holding down the fort." Jax told him. Tig just nodded.

"So, how are you doing, sweetheart? You gave us quite a scare the other day." Clay asked.

"I'm sorry about that, Sir. But I'm feeling much better now, thank you for asking." She looked up shyly at the SAMCRO President. All the guys looked at each other in astonishment at the girls words.

"Damn Tig, where did you find a girl who was so well behaved?" Clay turned towards Ellie again. "Why in the world do you put up with his ass?" He really was bewildered.

Tig laughed and Ellie giggled next to him. This was something that nobody had ever seen before and everyone stared, open-mouthed and wide eyes. "What? Close your damn mouths before someone sticks a dick in there."

The whole room burst into laughter and Ellie again buried her head in Tig's chest, once again reminded of her boyfriend's crudeness. After everyone had quieted down Ellie spoke to Clay again.

"I'm sorry for showing up how I did and troubling you with my past. I never meant for this to fall on the club's doorstep." She looked down ashamed.

Both Tig and Clay opened their mouths to protest, but someone else beat them to it.

"Hey, no thinking like that, Sweetheart. It's a good thing you came looking for Tig, we wouldn't want you gettin' hurt cuz you were ashamed. You have absolutely _nothing_ to be ashamed of. You gotta trust Tig, he'll protect you." Jax said sincerely. "Besides, we take care of family here."

Tig looked at Jax, perplexed. He and the VP had never gotten along. He was a man of action and Jax always thought things through first, and that put them at odds whenever immediate action needed to be taken. He didn't think Jax would be so blindly accepting of Ellie, especially when it took him almost a year before he excepted Tara, but maybe they could put their difference aside for a moment where their women were concerned.

Some of the other guys, Happy and Clay in particular, also looked confused by Jax's speech. But Chibs knew better. Jax always had the biggest heart of them all and it didn't surprise him in the least that he would be the first to welcome Ellie into the club with open arms.

Tig looked down severely at Ellie, he reached down and grabbed her chin and made her look at him. "Don't you _ever_ let me hear you talking bout yourself like that again, _ever_. Do you understand me, Elana?"

She nodded, thoroughly chastised, but also relieved that Alex and said it. She needed confirmation that he still loved her, even though she had been damaged, again.

"Jax is right, Sweetheart, the club takes care of family, above everything else. And if you're family to Tig, you're family to us. Lord knows he needs it." Clay was the second person to insinuate that Tig was heartless and, just like Chibs, Tig glared at him.

_If looks could kill_, jumped into Ellie's mind as a relevant concern.

"You're not going to go causing me a shitload of trouble though, now are ya, darling?" Clay stared her down but there was a twinkle of mischief in his eye.

"Of course she won't." Tig apparently couldn't tell that he was teasing.

Clay glared at his Sergeant-at-Arms, shutting him up. He was joking, but he did need an answer from her just the same.

"Of course not, I don't want to cause any trouble for you or the club." She said sincerely.

"Then, welcome SAMCRO, Elana." He walked up and kissed her on the cheek.

After the gentle moment with the SAMCRO Prez, Juice just had to put his two cents in.

"You never did tall us why you put up with his fucked up ass," Unfortunately for him, he was on Tig's side of the bed and wasn't fast enough and took a hard kick in his shins.

"Fuck," he groaned, and everyone burst out laughing.

Tara heard ruckus-laughter coming from Ellie's room and figured the guys must still be there.

"Now, I know you guys are not the types to follow the rules, but really." She light heartedly complained, entering the room and drawing attention to herself. Her shift was over and she was back in her street cloths. "There are only supposed to be two visitors in a room, not twenty. Out, Ellie needs the rest." She added as she saw the girl yawn.

"Hey doc, you mind keeping Ellie company for a few minutes. We've gotta talk to Tig." Clay asked.

"No problem, my shift is over for today, anyways." Knowing it was club business they would be discussing, probably about what to do about Lucas Otero.

Tig squeezed Ellie quickly, and then got off the bed. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He leaned down and caught Ellie's lips with his. It was more then just a quick peck. It was a hard, possessive kiss, Tig was showing everyone present just whom Ellie belonged to and they all knew it.

At first Ellie was hesitant, mindful of the group of men in the room with them. But as Tig plunged his tongue into her mouth her mind went blissfully blank. She leaned up into her lover's kiss. Tig reached and tangled his hands in the hair at the base of her neck so he could control her actions even more.

They remained like that for what felt like hours until she heard someone in the room give out a wolf whistle. Brought back to reality she pulled back and blushed. All the guys were standing around nonchalantly, sniggering and staring at the couple like it was an everyday occurrence.

Tig just stood there smirking, still holding her head in his hands. "Be good." He whispered, before he gave her a quick peck and letting her go.

All of the guys traipsed out of Ellie's hospital room, with many "see you later" and "feel better"s, and followed Clay and Tig to the chapel at the hospital. Only Happy stayed behind, outside of the room on guard duty.

When they were situated, Clay, Tig, Jax and Juice were in the pews, Bobby and Opie outside making sure they weren't disturbed and Chibs up against the wall with his arms crossed. Only then did they begin discussing business.

"Juice," Clay nodded at him.

"Whoever this guy is, he's good. I've hacked every damn database I can, it's like a week ago he fell of the face of the fuckin' planet. No hits on his credit cards, he hasn't rented a car or bought any plane, train or bus tickets in the last few months, his car is still in his parking spot in Houston, and his phone has been turned off. None of the motels near here have him registered as a guest, either." He looked up and saw Tig's murderous expression and hurried on. "I'll keep looking; I'm writing a program that will automatically alert me if he uses his credit card or turns his phone on and where. It should be done by tomorrow morning. But it's like Lucas Otero vanished into fuckin' thin air."

"Just fuckin' find him." Tig snapped, banging his fists onto the pew in front of him.

Clay laid a restraining hand on his shoulder. "We will. It's just a matter of time till he fucks up or Juice finds something else. Until then Ellie will never be unprotected, if you can't be with her someone else will be. Chibs and Happy have already volunteered for guard duty." He nodded at Chibs who still stood unobtrusively in the corner. The Scotsman just nodded.

"I'll pitch in some, too." Jax said. "No one is getting hurt on SAMCRO's watch."

Tig sighed. He realized they were doing everything that they could and Otero was never going to hurt his girl again. But he wasn't a patient man and he wanted to act. He couldn't stand just sitting around, waiting for Otero to make the first move.

Back up in the room Tara and Ellie were just talking about random stuff. Ellie's pastry shop, Tara's kids, just getting to know each other. All of a sudden Ellie remembered.

"Oh shit. Where's Ailin? Is she still at home? She must be starving to death." She started to panic.

"Hey, hey, hey calm down there, Sweetie." It was a habit she had picked up from Gemma, "Ailin is at the clubhouse. Tig brought her there the first day you were here. It was the only thing he left your side for. I'm not sure he would have eaten if Gemma or Riley hadn't brought food up for him. Said you would, I quote, 'have his balls if anything happened to that damn dog.'" They both laughed, Ellie calming down from her momentary panic attack.

"Well, he was right about one thing. He would have been missing his balls if Ailin had been left alone this whole time." Ellie giggled.

"How did you come up with the name Ailin anyways, it's such a unique name?" Tara wondered.

"It's Mapudungun. It's the language of one of the native people in Argentina. My mother grew up on the reservation and my family still lives there. She taught me how to speak Mapudungun growing up. It's a name that means rock. I got Ailin when I decided to move to Charming and open a business. She was always there, keeping me sane." Ellie sighed, she wished Ailin could be there now and keep her company.

"Yah, I know what that's like. When everything is upside down and you can't keep everything straight. You need something to keep you going." Tara knew exactly what that felt like.

Ellie just looked at her, "You sound like you're talking from experience again."

Tara smiled a sad smile. "Being in love with a Son is hard work. Nothing comes easy, Ellie. You constantly have to fight with croweaters to keep them away from your man. After a while you get used to the midnight phone calls that pull him away from you, because the club will always come first. And if they need something the guys can't say, 'I'll be there in an hour, I've got to finish fucking my wife.' Or, 'I've got to take the day off, Lily has an ear infection and hasn't slept in 36 hours.' They just have to get up and go. But that doesn't stop it from hurting every time it happens."

"So, you and Jax are married then?" This whipped the frown off of Tara's face.

"Yes, once we found out I was pregnant with Lily he decided he was going to make an honest woman out of me before she was born. Gemma nearly throttled him when he told her she had five months to plan a full blown SAMCRO wedding."

"Course I did." Gemma came striding in. Tara wondered how long she had been lingering out there and how much she had heard. "My only son tells me I have five months to plan a wedding to a woman who I actually approve of; you'd be pissed off, too. It had to be the wedding of the century, the Sons of Anarchy prince finally settling down with a decent woman and you guys gave me less then half a goddamn year." She shook her head.

"Well you pulled it off amazingly, Gemma. It was everything either of us could have wished for." Tara remembered the sight of one hundred plus bikers, in their black cuts sitting in front of the alter. And Jax, beaming at her from the front as Clay walked her down the isle, looking strange in a white button up shirt, dress pants and his cut.

Gemma kissed the top of her head before finally looking down her nose at the girl lying in the hospital bed looking. "So, this is Tig's girl?" She said, crossing her arms.

"Yes, Gemma, this is Ellie. Ellie, this is Gemma, Jax's mom, Clay's wife and club matriarch." Gemma reached out and shook Ellie's hand firmly.

"It's nice to meet you, ma'am. Tig has told me so much about you." Ellie tried to smile, but Gemma's piercing eyes were too much and she had to look away.

"I'm sure," Gemma simpered. Ellie could feel the Queen's gaze on her and couldn't force herself to look up. She just sat, playing with the blanket that was draped over her lap.

Tara just sat there, looking back and forth between the two women. The tense silence continued until Gemma was satisfied that she had proved to Ellie who was the _Queen_ around here.

"About time he stopped hiding and told the guys he had a girl." Gemma smirked. It was her signature look.

Tara and Ellie looked each other, confused. "You knew? But Tig said he didn't tell anyone. It was just our secret…" Ellie trailed off, shocked at the revelation.

"Oh, of course not, sweetheart." Gemma scoffed, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to the bed opposite Tara. "Do you not know your man at all? He's probably been overcompensating, actually. The guys just have their heads to far up their asses to notice."

"Then how did you know?" Ellie questioned, her brow furrowed.

"Girly, I've know that boy since he prospected for the club. I could tell you stories about him that could make your hair curl."

Tara interrupted her with a giggle.

"What?" Gemma snapped.

"Its just, I could, too."

Gemma raised her eyebrows at her daughter-in-law.

"What? I may have been ten but I had eyes and ears. It's not like the guys are particularly discrete, about anything." All three of them laughed.

They calmed down they got back to business. "Anyways, Tigger may be many things, but a good actor ain't one of them. There was no way he could get that past me." Tara smiled, no one could sneak anything past Gemma.

"So, you think you're good enough for our Tig? You think you can handle this world?" This was what Tara had warned her about. The tough scrutiny that Gemma would dish out to every potential Old Lady and even the knowledge that it was normal didn't stop the cold stare Gemma was shooting her from stinging any less.

She glanced over at Tara, who gave her a small reassuring smile before tipping her head towards Gemma, telling her to answer the question. Tara may be turning into a good friend but Gemma still higher up the food chain in this hierarchy.

She took a deep breath and strengthened up as best she could in the bed before meeting Gemma's gaze. "I don't know." She said honestly. If Gemma was surprised by her response she didn't show it. "But I know he's done a hell of a lot for me. He's made me feel loved again, he's given me a home, made me believe in myself when I was falling apart. And for some crazy reason he wants me, too. We've lasted over two years in this crazy fucked up relationship we've got going on, I don't think there is much of anything that can tear us apart if we fight it." Somewhere in her speech she had leaned forward and was much closer to Gemma then when she started.

"What about runs? Think you can handle 'what happens on the run, stays on the run' cuz you know Tig isn't exactly going to turn celibate on you?" Gemma countered.

"You have 'what happens on the run stays on the run.' We have or I should say had, 'what happens at SAMCRO stays at SAMCRO.' I know exactly what goes on there and I hardly think that Tig has been an angel. If I can put up with that for almost three years, I think I can deal with runs, too." Ellie leaned back into the pillows, satisfied with her response.

Gemma had to admit, Ellie might be turning out to be exactly what Tig needed. At first she had been concerned when the girl hadn't been able to hold eye contact with her, but she seemed confident in her relationship with the Sergeant-at-Arms and willing to fight for it; and in this world that was half the battle. The will to fight.

Gemma leaned back as well and smiled. Ellie had passed her first test, now she just had to prove with actions as well as words that she could do it, and only time would tell.

"Well, I see you've met the welcoming committee." Tig's return had gone unnoticed by the women in the room. He was standing in the door way, arms crossed, amused.

"Hey Tig. Just having a get to know ya chat. You know how these things are." Gemma smiled innocently.

Tara shook her head and Tig raise and eyebrow. He knew exactly what they had been talking about but he decided not to say anything about it. She would have confronted Ellie about it sometime and it was probably good that the Doc was there. She would have stopped Gemma if she had gone too far; Ellie was her patient after all.

Besides, Ellie looked fine, her whole face lit up when she realized he was in the room.

"Well, I have to go get Abel and Lily. I'll see you guys later." She smiled at Ellie and Gemma before making her way towards the door. As she passed Tig in the doorway he grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"Thank you, for everything." He voice sincere.

"Just doing my job." He smiled and kissed her on the forehead before letting her leave the room.

"Well, I should be getting going, too. Riley will be pissed if she has to stay at the garage much longer." She kissed Ellie's forehead. "It was nice meeting you, Ellie."

"You too, Gemma." She smiled at the older woman.

As she left the room she leaned towards Tig and kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear, "Take care of her, Tigger. This new look is good on you."

"I know, Gem. I know" He smiled. And she left leaving the couple alone again.

**AN: Thank you again for reading, as always. This chapter was both challenging and entertaining to write because I needed to figure out what her relationship with all the guys and Gemma would be like and convey that in just a few words.**

**On another note, I'm not when I will be able to post the next chapter. Life has been crazy lately, between finals, the opening weekend of the play and tomorrow I am heading out of town for a funeral, I probably wont be able to get a chapter out for at least two weeks. But I promise you, I will not abondon you, I love Ellie and Tig and I can't wait to have time again to lose myself in Charming, California.**

**IMPORTANT: I love the idea of Gemma or Tara telling Ellie a funny, embarrassing story about Tig when he was a Prospect, but I can't for the life of me right stupid humor. Satirical humor, sure. Sarcasm I'm great at. Stupid humor, not so much. So if anyone has any ideas for a good Tig Prospect story I'd love to hear them and I'll be sure to credit you when I write that chapter.**

**As always, please review.**

**Rose**


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